


Angel With the Strange Wings

by Rykura



Series: Angel With the Strange Wings [1]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: M/M, Slow Build, Visions, and he not really a demon, angel!ryou, better start reading then ://///, demon!bakura, he not really an angel tho, just take this before I leave it to rot in my library, mild violence, so far - Freeform, wanna know what that means?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-10
Updated: 2019-01-10
Packaged: 2019-10-07 15:22:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17368421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rykura/pseuds/Rykura
Summary: He had dreams about gore and death; about mythical beings that fought in the streets. Soon they transgressed into the real world. He witnessed angels opening portals on Christmas, creatures flying alongside the car on road trips, mythical beings fighting in the courtyard during recess. Everyone just told him he had a vivid imagination. His first mistake was believing they were.His second was trying to ignore them.





	1. Rebirth

He’d seen things. Since he was a child.  

He had dreams about gore and death; about mythical beings that fought in the streets. Soon they transgressed into the real world. He witnessed angels opening portals on Christmas, creatures flying alongside the car on road trips, mythical beings fighting in the courtyard during recess. Everyone just told him he had a vivid imagination. His first mistake was believing they were.  

His second was trying to ignore them.  

Years passed; his parents sent him to therapy at thirteen when the insistence upon fighting angels and demons continued. He became isolated at school, whether it was because of others being uncomfortable with his obsession with the afterlife or because he just wasn’t great at being social, no one could tell. Maybe it was both.  

As he got older, however, the images became harder to distinguish. He would forget dreams, the beings became transparent, their magic became solar flares that messed with his vision.  

It was distracting.  

And most always inconvenient.  

His family moved to a new city for his father’s work, a transition that Ryou had unfortunately become familiar with.   

His mother told him he shouldn’t ride a bike to school in such a busy city with such narrow streets, but he felt he could handle it. He couldn’t afford gas or upkeep for a car anyway as he had yet to find a job; it was hard with their moving around so much.  

He rode his bike to and from school successfully for nearly a year. He had a job and had found a cheap car on the internet, had even sent a message to the owner inquiring about buying it. He’d become familiar with all the surface streets and back-roads; he even made friends with an elderly woman who would bake muffins and give him one every other day to take to school for breakfast.  

And then one of his _“visions”_ happened.  

The images of fighting angels had just become translucent dark and bright outlines swirling around each other at that point, but the sudden solar flare shining in his peripherals was enough to distract him from his biking, enough to make him turn his head and squint, to try to make out the image, and enough to keep his attention long enough to not stop at the crosswalk flowing with rushing cars heading for work in the early morning. 

It was distracting enough to make him not hear the blaring horn or screeching of tires.  

Distracting enough to not remember what happened next.  

All he could remember was the flowing figures of dark and white molding around each other before his vision went red, then black, then white.  

And he was waking up to an infinite baby blue sky, honey brown orbs reflecting against fluffy white clouds drifting by up above and everything was so  _bright_.  

“Welcome, Nour.” Ryou sat himself up, found himself dressed in a very ancient looking style of clothing that left little to the imagination with a simple long flowing white cloth covering his front and back lower region. Gold rings lined his wrists, upper arms and midsection, like a high up belt, and a gold plate hung around his neck, covering his collar bones and parts of his shoulders.  

In front of him, sitting on her knees, was a pale, strikingly blue eyed woman with pearly hair so long it just reached the top of her thighs, dressed in similar style clothing though she had a bit more coverage on her chest. Ryou was grateful, because he was already flustered by her beauty and would not be able to handle anymore skin than she was already showing. 

“Where am I?” He asked the woman, who leaned forward and took his hands. Hers were soft and nimble as she pulled them both to a stand.  

“The Celestial Realm.”  

“Celestial Realm?”  

“I’m afraid your time in the mortal world was cut short Nour.” Ryou stared at her aghast.  

“I…” He looked around at the infinite realm of blue skies and then down at himself, covered in gold and white robes. “Am I _dead?_ ”  

“You died,” the woman went around him, and he watched with mixed emotions as she pulled out and straightened the two wings he felt hanging off his back; helping them stretch out to their full length and bend them a few times so he could feel the muscles stretching, connecting to bone and bone to spinal cord. “But you are far from  _dead_.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nour; Arabic for light/ luminous


	2. Pacifist

Fervent brown eyes watched with apprehension as the victorious angel pointed his holy sword towards the sky, the decapitated head of a freshly slaughtered demon clutched in his hand by it's greasy black hair, and shot a beam of light from its tip into the open blue sky. The light exploded into an oval portal of light, to the Celestial Realm, and with a swift beat of his wings he shot through the portal and disappeared with his kill. 

The fight took place right in the middle of an empty city street in the dead of night and just a ways off from where the fight took place, Ryou came out completely from his hiding spot in a narrow alleyway. The street lamps flickered back to life, florescent orange illuminating his white hair, wings and clothes as well as his pale skin, still young. The boy looked down at his belt with a grim shadow over his features. 

The sword had gone unused since his... _creation_  half a year ago. It had saved his life on multiple occasions, helping him escape from chasing demons to briefly cross into the celestial realm, just for a moment before jumping back to the mortal realm which had become his refuge. For half a year he had been hunted and chased around, jumping through portals and hoops to find a minute of peace. A minute that he could never find.

 _Maybe this is purgatory,_ he thought. To be trapped in the Mortal Realm without rest... unable to eat or touch or speak to anyone... It was maddening. He sometimes wondered if being on Earth just a few more years was really worth all this strife. If what he had done, the awful misdeed, had been worth those few more years. 

But then... he had barely made it through one.

“Strange,” Ryou jumped as a voice sounded behind him, finally sensing the demonic energy signature behind him and his heart dropped as he turned around, the source of his fears just a few feet away, leaning against the wall with crossed arms and a smug smirk plastered on his face. “It’s a good thing he managed to deal with that guy by himself, because you would’ve been no help, hm?” 

Ryou put a hand on his sword and stepped back, shaking slightly as the demon pushed off the wall, stepped out of the shadows toward him and revealed his features. He had short, rugged silver hair, narrow violet-blue eyes and golden-brown skin, all glowing with a sheen of orange from the street light shining above them. Thick, dark, curling horns protruded from his hair, a complimentary reptilian tail protruding from the base of his spine and poking out from under scarlet robes that trailed along the ground. His feet were beastly, mutated paws and hands clawed and darkened from the tips up his arms. 

The demon put those hands up appeasingly as Ryou put his hand on the hilt of his sheathed blade, though it was most likely that they both knew he wouldn’t use it, maybe not even unsheathe it. 

“Now now, I don’t mean any harm. Just a demon passing through. Like you.” Ryou huffed and took another step back despite his words.  

“Wh…” Ryou swallowed, his mouth dry with fear. “Why didn’t you help that other demon?” The demon scoffed lightly, showing off pearly fangs that glittered under the street lamp. 

“I knew him, but that guy was a fuckwit. I’d say he deserved it.” The demon took another casual step towards him. Ryou took another step back. “And you? Why didn’t you help? Angels are _sworn_ to help their brethren, unlike us low lives," he drawled. Ryou eyed him dubiously.  

“...I don’t… like fighting...”  

“A pacifist angel? Is that even allowed?” 

“I thought... angels were supposed to be nice?” The demon gave him a funny look. 

“You’d think so but they’re just as blood thirsty as us, I'd say the ones down here even more so. You should know that, being a ground angel after all.” Ryou's eyes flicked briefly away with guilt and the demon's eyes glimmered with curiosity, but then he continued as though not noticing. “Anyway, what’s with your wings?”  

Ryou’s wings fidgeted at being addressed and he drew them closer to himself self consciously. “They... they've been like that since I was made.” 

Angel’s had fully feathered wings of different kinds, depending on the angel. Some were shaped for speed, some were too small, some too big, but Ryou’s were on a completely different level. They were white, of course, which was all a demon needed to see before attacking him, but they weren’t completely natural angel wings. They started out feathery, but then continued into bones and muscles, into _bat_ wings, like a demon, despite their white coloring. They even had the claws protruding from the feathers, though they were small and quite useless unlike a demon's wing claws which were used for climbing and scratching.  

The demon hummed, still scrutinizing him with fascination and Ryou broke his inspecting to ask in a distressed tone, “Why don’t you _attack_ me?” 

“Your wings... confused me. And I don’t have as much enthusiasm for bloodshed like most other demons do. I’m... more of a collector.” 

“A collector?” Ryou's apprehension dropped slightly at his slightly reassuring words. He didn't let up his suspicion though, demons were cocky and terribly manipulative when they wanted to be. 

“I like to _steal_ things.” 

“Why?” 

“To freak the humans out. And because I want to.” Ryou heard the beginning hum of another distress signal sound nearby and immediately spread his wings to get away from it before it caught his interest and he was forced to follow it. 

“Well it was… interesting meeting you," Ryou said, taking multiple steps back out of the street light's circle and down the street. "I’m... going now."

“It was nice looking at you hot stuff,” the demon waved with that same toothy smirk on his face and Ryou blushed lightly at the comment before spreading his wings fully and taking off.

As he flew he looked back twice, warily making sure the demon didn't follow. 


	3. Deal

Ryou kept low to the ground, grass bedding flying by underneath him as he beat his leathery wings against the firm countryside winds. Built just beyond the tree line on flattened terrain sat a small town, scattered lights beginning to flicker on as night began to fall. Trees speckled the hillsides, eventually clumping together into an expansive forest he had come to call home.

This was the town of his birthplace, before he moved to the city, which consisted of a handful of houses and shops out in the Midwest surrounded by miles of rolling hills and pastures. He’d loved the environment as a child, at least until his family had moved away for better income.  

When he had first escaped back to the mortal realm and landed on Earth's soil, his first thought was to return home and see how his family was faring. But then just one look through the window was all he needed to dash away all thoughts of life going back to before he died. The feeling of his family not being able to see him, the sight of them still in mourning caused him to stray away. He _himself_ was still too tender from his own death to watch over his family responsibly, so he wandered the world aimlessly.

He figured he could travel, now that he had no need to worry about getting a job or paying for a flight, but after his first encounter with a demon his hopes were dashed once more. He’d barely been able to escape the ravenous demon's persistence and he wasn’t excited to accidentally run into another any time soon after. He’d been so cautious after the attack, he spent a whole week hiding in an abandoned house attic, the event was so traumatic.  

After _months_ of hiding from place to place, dodging distress signals left and right and never finding a moment of peace, he eventually figured he would need to retreat to somewhere he was familiar with and that he knew was devoid of any connections he previously had, at least any currently _living_ connections. Thus, he returned to his childhood home, where livestock roamed and calves played in the fields; where horses tamed and otherwise loped along curling hills of green and the wind was warm.  

It seemed like sanctuary.  

But then nothing was truly off limits in this world.  

He beamed at the sight of the little town, not having felt any demonic auras his whole trip there. He was excited to see the little squares of light from homes still clinging to waking life, but then a terrifying evil aura cascaded over him like a lightning bolt, stopping him in his tracks and he dove into the forest cover for safety before hesitantly ebbing towards the tree line to peer at his old home from afar.  

He figured he would stay in the forest anyway as he made his way there. It was a comfortable enough place and the predators were no threat to him. He also wanted to stay away from crowded mortal life, which demons and angels were attracted to, but to not even be able to walk through and reminisce… he was disappointed.  

But it was his home, so he decided to watch it for a while in case an angel came to dispose of whatever demonic creature had taken residence and he could roam freely.  

For a week he explored the forest, walking the trails, watching ducks play in the shallow end of the river that weaved through the biome. He found himself a secluded sunny clearing that he napped in during the day, sometimes waking up to birds singing in the trees or a small family of deer passing through. At night he would go to the tree line and watch the cows graze in the pasture before cuddling together for sleep. He would watch the lights flicker off one by one, but the aura never went away.  

Eventually he decided to confront the demon himself.

...or at least sneak around it so he could snatch a sweet from the little bakery he used to love to go to, if it was still there.  

He was extremely cautious as he entered the town one morning and pinpointed the demon's location with his supernatural senses. When he tracked it down, he found it was different from any other he had seen before, mostly because he _couldn’t_ see it.  

He could sense the demon regularly following a group of friends around and then one of them home; a boy with golden bangs, wild ebony hair and violet tips and matching amethyst eyes. It was hard to discern at first, but after a few days following the group around himself with no issue, he realized the demon was  _inside_ the boy’s shadow, following him to school, into his home, out to eat, to the arcade; everywhere. Never coming out, it was just… there.  

Ryou became more comfortable after that realization, though the caution didn’t decrease. His routine changed; some days he would sleep all day and others he would skirt around the town, watching the demon curiously and watching the group of mortals with envy. His routine continued for another month, sleeping and watching from rooftops and far off distances.  

Then one day, while watching the boy and his blonde friend eat at a fast food place, the demon confronted _him_.  

“You.” Ryou jumped in his spot behind the ledge of a rooftop, turning sharply at the abrupt tone addressing him and finding the demon standing right behind him, arms crossed and expression hard. He had never seen the demon in his true form and was astounded to find him only slightly different looking from the boy he stuck to. His eyes and hair were red, instead of the other’s more purplish tint, and his features sharper. There was also the impossible to miss lion tail and jet-black horns that were barely discernible from where they pointed out of his ebony hair. What kind of demon was he that he could take on the appearance of others? “Why are you just watching me? Why haven’t you attacked me?” 

Ryou quickly stood, unable to think otherwise as a shot of dread filled his veins and he raised his hands to show he wasn't a threat. 

“Th-this is my hometown,” he started shakily. “But- I- don’t like fighting and… I was waiting to see if some other angel would come to k-kill you.” The demon raised a suspicious brow at him, and he continued, “Th-that sounded bad- I mean I didn’t know if you were… murderous…” The demon made no move towards or away from him, simply kept his hard stare and the angel fidgeted agonizingly. “Why haven’t  _you_ attacked  _me_?” 

The demon was quiet for a moment before casually walking around him and taking a seat on the wall, slinging his clawed feet over the ledge. Ryou took a few small, panicked steps away from him as he moved. “I’m not interested in fighting either,” the demon responded, his back facing the angel which Ryou found all too complacent considering what usually transpired between a demon and angel once contact was made. “As long as no one touches that boy they won’t taste my claws.” 

Ryou studied the demon with suspicious curiosity. “Why do you follow him around everywhere?” He asked carefully.  

He noticed the demon’s crimson eyes soften slightly. “He’s my soulmate.” 

“Really?” Ryou knew the term soulmate, but only the ‘mortal’ version of it. “What does that mean here?” 

“It means he is my other half. I can’t exist without him.” 

“Why... is he a human and you a demon, then?” The demon gave him a sidelong look and stayed quiet for a long minute. Ryou's eyes flicked around, studying his features. He couldn't really believe this was happening a second time; him talking to a demon almost civilly. 

“We decided to become human together," the demon finally responded, turning around again to watch the two humans eating in the restaurant. "I remember... he was so excited. But then, I died.” The demon’s tone warned him not to ask about it.

“I’m... sorry.” 

“It would be selfish to have him die prematurely and try again together. I don’t mind being his guardian until he returns to me,” the demon said it assuredly, as though to himself.  

Ryou found it odd that a demon could fall in love. From the ones he had run into so far, and the ones he had seen from afar, he’d gathered they were souls filled with hate and anger. But then there would be the oddball, like this one or the one he had talked to briefly those couple months before.  

“Was he a demon too?” Ryou asked tentatively. The demon didn’t respond. “An angel?” Again, no response. “Is that why you wanted to live? So you could be together without being a demon or an angel?” 

The demon stayed silent. “Why are your wings like that?” he asked after a minute. Ryou understood the topic change but he hated how much he was asked that question; first from every angel in the celestial realm and now two demons so far.  

“No one seems to know,” he supplied quietly.

Silence reigned and Ryou lost himself in thought, watching the demon watch the boy. The demon seemed to know there was more on his mind and didn’t react when he sat warily on the ledge with him, though Ryou didn’t turn to dangle his feet over the wall as he did. “Do you mind… if I stay in this area?” He asked after a while. The demon raised an eyebrow at him again.  

“Why?”  

“Well, you say you don’t like fighting but…” He squeezed his fingers together nervously. “I feel like if something bad were to happen, some other demons or angels came around, you wouldn’t be afraid to defend the town… er...” the demon waited for him to continue. “And I couldn’t even try to fight one… so...” 

“You want me to protect you?” Both of his brows rose now, amused.  

“I just think no one would want to mess with you so they’d stay away, and I don’t want to be bothered while I… exist.”  

“Why are you here, in the mortal realm, if not to kill demons?” It was Ryou’s turn to stay silent. The demon must have decided not to press as after a minute of no response he held out a clawed hand. “Give me your sword and you can stay as long as you like.” Ryou rested a cautious hand on the sheath and stared at the demon, affronted.  

“How will I escape demons if I can’t use a portal?” 

“As long as you stay here you won’t be in danger. Eventually Yugi will die and be at my side again and I’ll give it back. Swear on my soul.” Yugi… was that the boy then? His... soulmate?  

Ryou stared at his palm and then down at his sheathed sword.  

Since he'd taken it, he hadn’t used the item aside from making portals and he didn’t know what else it was capable of or what else it could do besides send out a distress signal or kill demons. What if the demon used it to kill him, then and there? 

But then… he also couldn’t be bothered to think hard on it. He was _tired_ of running, he just wanted somewhere safe to nap and…  _exist_ , as he said. If the demon _did_ decide to just kill him, maybe that would be for the best... 

He unhooked the belt and handed it to the demon without a care. As he laid it in his clawed hand the swords sheath began to turn black from where he touched it and it spread like a virus; white turning to ebony, sapphire and diamond melting into gold and ruby and Ryou stared at it in awe. 

“What happened to it?” He asked, astounded. The demon chuckled.  

“You must really be new. It’s  _tainted_  now.” The demon hooked the belt around his hips and stood, looking down at him with a small, sincere looking smile. It looked strange on him, what with his threatening horns, sharp fangs, pointed ears and blood red eyes. “Enjoy the area.” He said with a small nod and Ryou nodded back.  

“Thank you…” he breathed with relief. 

The demons form melted into a shadow on the rooftop and dipped over the edge, skimming down the wall, across the street and melding into the boy’s shadow as he walked down the road, the human laughing at something his taller blonde friend said.  

Ryou watched from the rooftop until the group disappeared around the corner before standing and flying off into the forest to find his usual place to take a nap.


	4. Stolen

He really should have expected it. He was sleeping during the _day_ , when the demon was busy following his human and angels were working under the refined rays of the sun. 

The melodious chimes and notes of the distress call wafted into the grass clearing and by the time he woke up he was hooked, already caught in its siren song and his body became a stranger to him as his wings forced him to follow the source of the sound.

The signal was channeled by an angel under siege by three demons all at once and when he arrived Ryou ducked down into the thicket surrounding a little well gardened park area, folding his wings in close and peeking out from behind a tree to see the situation, as usual. 

The angel’s sword reverberated with the alluring sound which caused the surrounding demons to spit, hiss and jump back when he swung it towards them. They shook their heads and growled, infuriated by the melody. Ryou thought it was a beautiful tune, but then it must have a different effect on the demons.  

The sound had a hypnotizing effect and Ryou felt an overwhelming urge to help, but his sword was gone and he was far from a fighter, much less a good one. His nails dug into the bark of the tree and he chewed on his lip, able to do no more than watch as he was tugged back and forth between the sound urging him forward and his fear holding him back.  

The angel slashed at one of the demons and when another jumped forward to attack, he spun around and cut its head off. Its body fell limp on the grass, twitching slightly as its head rolled along the ground before it began to crumble into ash and fly off with the wind. The other two demons backed off at the sight of their fallen comrade and growled low and threateningly. They didn’t retreat, however, as one of the angel’s wings was badly injured, flopping around and making him stumble awkwardly with pained twitches as he switched the tip of his sword between them. He was doomed if another angel didn’t come to help him. Ryou squeezed the bark harder.  

The demon’s split up and circled him until they were surrounding him from the front and the behind. They shared a look and poised to attack before launching forward simultaneously. The angel was able to slash at the one in front of him across the chest exhaustively but toppled without further fight as the one behind tackled him to the ground and proceeded to tear his body apart, starting with the arms, ripping them out of their sockets as the angel screamed in agony. His friend with the new scar seared into his chest stood with an arm held protectively across his torso and roared victoriously, making Ryou turn away and slide down the trunk of the tree onto the grass, arms wrapping around himself. He tried to catch his breath, not realizing he had stopped breathing at the intense scene. He moved his hands from his arms to cover his face and counted his breaths, hoping the demons wouldn’t realize he was there; wouldn’t realize that an angel actually _had_ come, though not to help.  

His hands switched from covering his face to covering his ears as a sudden screeching, awful sound cut through the quieted park area and he peeked around the tree again, dread filling his veins at what he saw. The demon had taken the angel’s sword, _tainted_ it as the gold metal melted into sharp jet-black steel, just as his own had when he gave it to that other demon, and it began to let out an uncomfortable sound that Ryou reasoned could only mean one thing.  

If the angel could summon other angels with his sword, the demon must be summoning more demons.  

Ryou stumbled up and tripped over his robes in his haste, alerting the other demons to his presence and he cursed in his head as they hissed in his direction before taking off with a fast beat of his ivory wings.  

The sound didn’t waver in intensity as he flew away, telling him that the demons with the sword had taken chase and were following him with that demon luring sound.  

He didn't have a heart, only mortals bore bodies of flesh, but something like adrenaline beat through his celestial body as he dodged obstacles and weaved through the city. No matter how much he told himself he didn’t care for his own existence, he still bolted at the sight of danger. He was a coward, but he could reason that this was a valid time to flee. Sometimes demons did more than just kill an angel as he had just witnessed. Sometimes they kept them alive for a while, committing rape, torture, or even worse; turning them into a demon. 

He actually had never seen that happen but he had learned it from his time in the celestial realm. The woman who had first welcomed him had made demons her top discussion topic. It made Ryou sick sometimes, the things she described to him. 

Ryou was right to be terrified of these creatures.  

He tried to make the chase more complicated, diving between buildings and down busy streets, narrowly avoiding traffic lights and lamp poles as he darted through the town but the sound persisted, always the same terrifying intensity. 

He decided to go back to what was familiar, the forest, and took a sharp right towards the sea of trees in the distance…  

And his breath left his lungs as a force blew him out of the sky, hitting right between his shoulder blades from above and he went crashing towards the ground. Cackling laughter sounded above him as he dropped and rolled along the concrete, landing in a back alley. Grime and dirt caught in his pure white clothes and fresh cuts and scrapes sprayed droplets of holy golden blood over bruised pale skin. He pushed himself up weakly before crying out again as a clawed foot crashed into his back once more and pushed him back down onto the dirty pavement. 

“Well well well, hello there beautiful~,” the demon holding him down cooed to him in a sickeningly sweet tone and Ryou turned his head to look up at him helplessly, still reeling from the fall and vision hazy. “Aren’t you a fine little specimen. Where’re you flying off to in such a hurry?” The other two demons who were chasing him landed in the alley and the one with the sword pointed it at the demon on top of him with a growl.  

“Back off! That’s our kill.” The demon on top of him leaned down so his elbow was on his knee in a lazy pose. Ryou struggled to breath and coughed weakly at the added pressure. 

“I don’t see your name on him,” he drawled in a bored tone. 

“Didn’t have time to carve it in ‘em before he darted off after watching us tear his friend apart.”  

“A scardy angel kitty, hm?” Ryou trembled on the ground as the demon dug his foot further into his back, leaning down to glare at him suspiciously. Ryou was able to focus his eyes enough and see the demon's familiar violet colored eyes dart down to his strange wings and glimmer with recognition. “Oh… it’s you.” Ryou focused more on him and realized that he recognized him too; it was the first demon who talked to him without attacking him on sight.  

His fear didn’t ease, the demon had only been nice because he had his sword. His sword was gone now...

“Yeah this one's mine,” the demon cut through Ryou’s thoughts and he, as well as the other demons, reeled at the statement. The demon with the newly obtained sword stepped forward again and pointed its ebony tip at him threateningly. 

“He’s ours,” the devil growled.  

“Not anymore,” the demon took his foot off Ryou’s back and the angel got a short gasp of air in before it left him in a squeak as he was easily picked up and slung over the demon’s shoulder, the devil smirking at the other two demons smugly. “Stealing things is kind of my creed, so I’m just gonna steal this angel and be on my way.” 

“You’re not going anywhere!” Ryou covered his face and cowered on the demon's shoulder as the demon with the sword darted forward and swung at him but the clang of metal on metal replaced the sound of metal slashing through flesh as the demon blocked with a weapon of his own and stalled the attack effortlessly. He pushed the attacker and caused him to stumble, giving the demon carrying Ryou an opening for an attack which he took, giving the demon another scar across the chest. The demon dropped his newly obtained sword and screeched in pain before he was sent flying back by an unseen force and went rolling allong the ground, claws and tail whipping around as he went. 

Ryou heard the demon under him chuckle and grabbed at his scarlet robes as he spread his pitch-black leather wings before taking off into the sky with a single push off the ground. Ryou didn’t struggle or dare to open his eyes, just buried his face into the demons robed shoulder as they shot through the air, wishing he could just disappear. 

The demon sheathed his weapon and repositioned Ryou, tugging him down to hold him bridal style and the angel struggled and pushed him away weakly in fear as the demon pulled him down. 

“L-let me go!” He cried, pushing at the demon's chest to get him to drop the angel so he could fly off. The demon's strength was too much for him, however, as he simply held him firm and gave him a lightly annoyed look. 

“Would you relax?” The demon secured his hold on him, arms curling around his legs and torso, including his wings and arms, and distressing the angel further at his inability to move. He kicked and thrashed feebly as the demon carried him off to an unknown destination, tears budding in his eyes at the growing despair of the new situation. His mind was filled with terrible thoughts as to what the demon wanted or intended to do with him. All of the terrible things he had watched happen to failed angel's bombarded him at once and it took all he had to grit his teeth and not let the tears fall as the wind whipped around them. 

Eventually the demon landed, thudding heavily onto a soft sounding surface and Ryou peeked his eye open to see where the demon had taken him. The room was a large spherical chamber, the middle of which was depressed and filled with cushions and blankets which they landed on through a skylight in the roof. He couldn’t see much else before the demon folded his wings and hurried forward with a struggling Ryou in his clutches through a series of stone hallways built like a maze. It wasn’t long before he barged into, seemingly at random, a small room barely bigger than a closet, the only exit being the door they entered through.  

Ryou yelped as he was dropped on a bed of blankets and decorative cushions, struggling to scoot away from the demon through the thick mess.  

“Geez. You really are helpless, huh?” Ryou stifled a shriek as the demon dropped suddenly and sat on the blankets across from him. He seemed to loom over the angel with the torchlight from the hallway behind him darkening his features and Ryou wrapped his wings around himself in a pathetic attempt to shield himself from the terrifying creature.  

His wings flinched away and tightened around himself as he felt a pressure on the membrane; the demon was touching him!  

“You’re like a scared little bunny,” the demon teased with an adoring tone. Ryou didn’t answer, tried to contain the whimpers building in his throat. “If I wanted you dead, I would’ve killed you the first time we met. Come out already,” the demon continued in a bit more serious tone, but again Ryou didn’t answer.  

He heard a growl before the demon tore his wings away and tackled him onto the blankets. He pinned Ryou’s hands by the sides of his head and his wings down with his own as he glared down at the angel whose eyes were squeezed shut in fear.  

“You know, I don’t like being ignored, especially in my own house, and especially by my own things.” 

Ryou opened his eyes, surprised. “Wh...” he started. “I-I am not a  _thing!_ ” 

“You are now,” the demon smirked, violet eyes shining under the silvery bangs hanging around his face. "I wasn’t just making an excuse to save you back there, I stole you. You’re mine now.” What part of Ryou's wings that could move flapped fruitlessly as panic settled in and the demon kept talking, not bothered by his continued struggling. “It’s not that bad. I’m gonna take good care of you, promise.” 

“I don’t want to be taken care of!” Ryou cried and tried to tug his wrists from the demon's grip, but it was useless.  

“It boggles my mind that the celestials would give a poor excuse of an angel such as yourself a sword,” Ryou stalled in his efforts at the demon's words. “You should be lounging on velvet couches and sipping on lotus wine like all the other lazy cowardly souls up there who couldn’t make the cut of a ground fighter.” Lotus wine? Wasn’t that some kind of ethnic wine? “Where is your sword anyway? I remember you having one last time we met.” Ryou’s face heated in embarrassment and he took a calming breath before tightly shutting his eyes, dutifully ignoring the demon on top of him. 

The demon huffed in amusement. “Well, without it you’re pretty much useless.” The demon removed himself from his position pinning Ryou down and looked down at him with a bored expression. “I’ll come back in a bit and see if you’re feeling more cooperative.”  

“For what?!” Ryou cried, eyes opening and sitting up with hair ruffled and mused from the tackle. “I’m not a _thing_ you can just possess! What could you possibly need me for?”  

“To talk to, to look at; you’re far from an eyesore. Maybe I’ll go find you a big tank and keep you in it like a tarantula; a pet you don’t touch, just have for decorative purposes.” The demon backed towards the door as he talked and Ryou’s despair grew at his words. “We’ll see how it goes, I’ll give you time to think on it. I’ve got business so, goodnight.” The demon slammed the thick wooden door behind him, a dark shadow shimmering around it and Ryou heard the lock click before all was silent and he was sat all alone in the quiet room.  


	5. The Scar

He didn’t know how long he’d been in that room. Maybe days, maybe a week? There were no windows or clocks, nothing to give any indication of time in the small room. Demons and angels had a warped sense of time anyway, it might’ve been a year and the demon would have considered coming back too soon. It all depended on the age and since Ryou was so young, both in death and in life, it felt like forever.  

He only tried once to open the door and it didn’t end well. He reached for the handle without thought and cried out in pain as a dark force squeezed his arm to the point where he thought it might break before he tore it away; he even heard cartilage shift.  

He realized that the dark shimmer on the door must have been some kind of magical lock and his hopelessness increased. He wasn’t the slightest bit experienced enough to deal with a barrier curse, he was barely able to get a  _sword_  in the first place.  

 _At least I’m… safe?_ No demons or angels would find him there, presumably underground from the dampness and the sound in the walls. That is, unless the demon had friends who’d like to take to torturing him. With that thought in mind he resisted sleep, which was a habit he had taken to pass the time on the ground even though he didn’t  _need_  to sleep, and tried to keep himself entertained with the objects in the room as much as possible.  

After his failed attempt at trying to leave he went to scouring the room for a weapon that he might be able to use to defend himself with, even if it was a mortal made knife that would do no harm to the demon. The room was the size of a small cell but filled with extravagant objects; it was like a storage room for treasure and precious trinkets. The middle of the room was covered in lavish blankets and pillows which was what the demon had dropped him onto, but he didn’t understand why they were there. Maybe the room really had been a cell and he was just using it as storage for all his possessions. Ryou did recall the demon calling himself a _collector_ of sorts.  

He dug around and found jewelry of all kinds, a few gowns and clothes that looked old enough to be from the 1800s, and not replicas. He found a chest filled with gold coins and jewels which he found _unbelievably_ cliche but impressive all the same. Besides that, however, the room was barren of tools or weapons. Ryou wondered if this was all he had and reckoned he must be a terrible thief. Or maybe he was keeping him in one of his less impressive rooms.  

At some point, a few days at least into his imprisonment, he had dozed off while staring at the ceiling in thought and sat up with a start when he realized he had taken a nap. His anxiety skyrocketed as he immediately noticed how dark it was, a complete change to the unnatural brightness that filled the room, unnatural because there were no torches or lights of any kind. As he looked around he was shocked further to find the doorway without a door on it at all and scrambled to a stand.  

His mind was racing; was this some kind of trick? Was the demon testing him or got bored and decided to let him out and chase him like a mouse in a maze? 

He ebbed forward and peeked out the door but found the hallway completely pitch black, aside from a low light illuminating around the corner of another hallway to the right. He decided to take a chance and left the suffocating room, feeling the wall as he went towards the bit of light. The air was humid, and he heard water rushing and dripping in the hallways. What had happened? When the demon had taken him down here the passages were dry and well-lit with numerous torches.  

When he got to the end of the hallway he hesitated as the sound of chanting reached his ears, instilling cold fear into his veins, and he hesitantly leaned forward to peak around the corner. Red torches lit the walls now, the humidity filtering into cool air as a breeze came from down the hallway and his heartbeat increased. It must be the way out.  

He took a deep breath and continued forward, keeping to the wall and cringing at the heat from the blood red torches he passed on his way until he reached the end. A dark fog covered the end of the passage so he couldn’t make out what was beyond until he passed the threshold and found himself in the spherical chamber from which the he and the demon had first arrived. The chanting became as loud as a waterfall rushing in his ears as soon as he crossed while before it was low like a murmur behind a closed door. His eyes flew wide with and he gasped at the scene that he’d stumbled upon.  

Hooded figures dressed in floor length red robes stood in a spacious circle around an _angel_  chained by his neck, ankles, and wrists to the stone ground in the middle of the chamber. His feathered wings were penetrated through with chains hanging from the ceiling, gold blood seeping out of the glowing white of his feathers and dripping down the rusty metal.  

None of them noticed him as he darted to the side behind a pillar and peeked out, watching once again as one of his own were prosecuted.  

As the chanting continued, one of the figures walked forward with a rugged ebony knife, rubies buried into the hilt glittering in the red light and the angel tugged harder at the chains holding his wrists and wings as they approached, bringing forth more holy golden blood spilling onto the floor. The figure grasped the angel’s hair with a pale boney hand and forced his head up to see his face… 

And it was the demon, the one who had captured him; he recognized his face even without the gruesome scar down his right eye... 

 _The scar._  

Ryou realized what was happening and covered his mouth as the figure raised the knife to his eye and dug the blade down his cheek, the angel crying out in pain and anger at the offense on his face. The figure was able to get two more strikes across the first cut before the feathers on his wings blackened, shriveled and fell to the floor in heaps, crumpling on impact into black dust that swirled around him like a tornado of ash.  

The blood from his new wound spilled from gold to purplish ink as his veins bulged and glowed violet all throughout his body. He tore his wings off of the chains, unbothered by the torn flesh that reformed with bone and membrane, two brand new demon wings spreading in a threatening display of pure hatred and anger. The dust swirling around him formed into horns and tail and his eyes bled furious violet light as he sent the figure flying back against the wall hard enough that Ryou had no doubt the crack he heard was a fatal one. The newly created demon’s fangs shone in the crimson torchlight as he let out a deafening roar and Ryou had to cover his ears because of the intensity. But even then his head pounded with the sound of rushing blood and the cry of anger, resentment, pure hate and confusion, of fear and betrayal and- 

He shot up out of the nest of blankets in a cold sweat, panting rapidly as he wrapped his arms around himself.  _It was all a dream,_  he realized. He needed to leave- to get out of that suffocating room; that dark room with the walls closing in- 

He scrambled up and grabbed for the handle without thought, hesitating for a fleeting moment when that pressure on his arm returned once more but he couldn't be bothered to care as he pushed forward and grabbed the handle fully, his other hand darting forward to help. A violet shimmer blasted from the metal and throughout the walls of the room, and then the pain disappeared.  

He tore down the handle and crashed through the door, immediately falling to the floor before scrambling back to the wall opposite the room and panting rapidly. His mind was reeling and body hot from the vision he’d just endured, like a sudden fever had taken over his celestial body. He focused on trying to calm himself down, slowing his breaths and reveling in the cool stone seeping the warmth out of his back.  

He didn’t know how long he sat there, pressed against the wall breathing deeply until the demon's voice brought him out of the trance. 

“Well you’re just full of surprises, aren’t you?” Ryou looked up at the demon, studied the gruesome scar he had just seen carved into tan skin and he had to question; was that real? Did he see… the past...? 

“You…” Ryou breathed, voice trembling. He swallowed before continuing. “Were you an angel once?” The demons face shadowed as he looked down at him, eyes glowing dangerously.  

“What did you just say?” He murmured.  

“That knife…” Ryou recognized the knife with the rubies in the hilt hanging from his belt and he lifted a hand, bunching up his ivory bangs in slight distress. That was the weapon he used to counter the demon that was chasing him. “That one, they used it… why do you keep it?” Suddenly, the demon grabbed him by the gold plate around his neck and lifted him to his feet to glare straight into his dazed eyes. 

“How the hell do you know about that?” The demon hissed but it didn’t register in the angel’s mind as he raised a hand and brushed a thumb over his scar, causing the demon to pause, surprised.  

“How could they…? They were mortals…” His eyes rolled back and knees buckled and the demon caught him by the waist before he fell. Ryou clawed at the demon’s robes weakly as his eyes shut against his will and a sudden exhaustion progressively began numbing his body. “Don’t let me sleep…” He whimpered anxiously, head lolling onto the demon’s shoulder. “I don’t want to see it…”  

After a few moments of him fighting unconsciousness, he heard the demon growl and felt himself picked up fully before sleep fully submerged his senses into warm darkness.  


	6. Bunny

Ryou blinked his eyes open to another stone brick ceiling, but it was farther away than the one he was used to staring at. He sat up groggily and looked around, finding himself in a different room than the one he was held in before and realizing he was right in assuming the room he was originally in was to a lesser degree in extravagance than others the demon had.

It was another round chamber but smaller than the one they entered by. He was laying on a king-sized bed in a sea of scarlet blankets and pillows laced with gold frills and patterns. The walls were lined with thick violet drapes and flickering torches. To his left, there was a simple but large fireplace accompanied by a velvet couch and matching set of chairs sitting around it. To his right was a closet, a dresser, a screen for changing clothes behind, a full-length gold mirror and large white tub for bathing. Right in front of him was an open staircase leading down into a passageway, no doors however.

As he looked around Ryou felt a deep tiredness in his bones, having to constantly wonder where he was. He just wanted to leave, to go back to the woods he had come to call home because at least there he could run away if danger approached. Here he was like a mole trapped underground by a hungry wolf scouring the forest floor above, waiting for his head to pop out to see if the coast was clear so he could bite it off.

The angel stretched his wings and torso, yawning in spite of his unease before trying to crawl out of the bed, wading through the mess of blankets and yelping as a piece of cloth twisted around his foot and sent him tumbling off the mattress. He kicked the piece of blanket off before standing, straightening out his clothes and looking for a place to hide. The closet would be ideal, but as he opened it up and looked inside he figured his wings might not fit and it wasn’t deep enough to shield himself within the clothes so if the demon looked inside he would be found embarrassingly easy. Under the bed was another option, but then he looked under and found there was no space, it was grounded to the floor. Not the fireplace, not the tub; he would just have to try leaving.

Or he could stay and wait for the demon, to see what he would do with him. Ryou believed at this point that maybe the demon really didn’t mean any harm. He’d been an angel once, if his vision and the demon's reaction was anything to go by. Maybe that’s why he didn’t immediately attack when they first met. Maybe he really _would_ take care of him.

But did Ryou want to be taken care of? He sat on the bed, suddenly finding himself in thought.

He wanted to stay alive, isn’t that why he had done all of this? Get the sword, give it away for protection; he wanted to live a little longer as Ryou before the celestials hunted him down and punished him for his misdeeds or sent him off for reincarnation. Would he still be Ryou, on the inside, if he got reincarnated? It would always be his soul… unless the celestials decided to make him otherwise…

Maybe staying down here wasn’t so bad after all.

He decided to just accept his fate. Whatever would happen… he’d make the best of it, as long as he could be himself.

He decided to tidy up the bed he had tousled. Well, the bed he had _slept_ in. He was sure he didn’t move that much in his sleep. But then who would? The demon? Demons didn’t need to sleep either, he assumed. If they did this one was quite the thrasher; as he fixed up the comforter, he found it was put on the wrong way and remade it with a huff.

When he finished, he looked down at the flat surface, satisfied, before his wings drooped and the unease grew once more.

He wasn’t comfortable, just being here. What if the demon had left him here for another few days? He turned towards the passageway and took a calming breath. The demon wouldn’t hurt him, if he wanted to he would’ve done so already, that’s what he said right?

He traversed down the stairs and entered a hallway with many other passages breaking off on either side. He wondered where they actually were and what this place was used for before the demon... took over? Neither demons nor angels could build things in the mortal world. Maybe it belonged to those hooded figures... and the demon got rid of them.

He headed down the main hallway until he felt a passing breeze from one of the halls on his left and turned into it. The breeze probably meant the main chamber was this way, since that seemed to be the only entrance and exit that Ryou knew of.

He became more cautious as he continued and followed the hallways until he reached the chamber, surprised by his own discovery. He looked around, recognizing the features of the room but noticing cracks and missing chunks in the pillars and stones that weren’t there in his dream. He wondered how long ago those things in his vision had taken place.

The skylight in the roof, he realized, hadn’t been in his dream either. In fact, the skylight looked less like a skylight and more like a piece of roof that had been broken through with dangerous jagged pieces sticking out but there was no debris otherwise. The demon must have made it to make the chamber more accessible. He reasoned there must be another exit that the mortals used to get in and out that must have been too inconvenient for him.

The skylight spilled midday light into the chamber and he found himself rushing forward towards it and tripping onto the cushions in the middle of the room with a squeak, not watching where he was going as he was staring up at the skylight. He nearly moaned in pleasure and let his face sink into the cushions as he bathed in the light from the sun, realizing he had taken its natural warmth for granted as his body was replenished with an invisible power that swelled his body with strength and satisfaction.

He laid there, nearly purring in content for maybe ten minutes before a dark chuckle made him peek an eye open and find the demon he had been wondering so much about crouching down to look at him just a foot or two away. He was a little disconcerted at the demon’s silent appearance, he hadn’t heard any rustling of clothes or any indication of movement. It was unnerving.

He was dressed in the same scarlet robes and sand colored skirt as usual and Ryou felt his stomach twist a little nervously but didn’t bother making a fuss as he enjoyed the rays still beating down on his back.

“Someone looks comfortable.” Ryou didn’t respond, in fact he groaned and raised a wing to block his view of the taunting demon. “Again with the attitude,” he sighed. “You know, for a being that has no need for sleep, you sure do it a lot.”

“Well what else am I supposed to do?” Ryou said tiredly, moving away his wing. “I’m tired of being afraid. If you’re gonna kill me just do it already.”

“I already said if I wanted you dead then you would be, didn’t I?”

“Well why don’t you?”

“I like rare things,” the demon eyed his wings and Ryou tensed but didn’t flinch away when he reached forward and brushed the membrane lightly with the tips of his claws. “And in all my years I’ve never seen a creature with wings such as yours. You were made in the celestial realm, weren’t you?” Ryou nodded into the blankets. “Yet you have _these_ wings which are a pertinent sign of being a demon. If I didn’t know any better, I would guess you were a demon who painted their wings white but who would ever want to do that?”

“I don’t know why they’re like that,” Ryou moved his wing away and pushed himself up with a sigh, still reverberating with the invigorating energy the sun gave him. “They’ve caused more trouble than good. All the angels avoided me and since they didn’t want me up there, I decided I’d try living a little longer down here. I didn’t realize what I was getting into. Now I’m hated by both demons _and_ angels.” Well, he _assumed_ the angels hated him. They _must_ know what he did...

“Oh?” The demon tilted his head, interested. “What did you do to get on _their_ bad side then?”

Ryou looked at him and then sighed, his wings drooping and hair falling around his face in exhaustion. “I... stole a sword.” There was a beat of silence. “Then... I gave it... to a demon...” Ryou felt the silence wrap around him like a snake’s grip, beginning to suffocate him with awkwardness before jumping as the demon barked out a hysterical laugh, even falling back on the floor and holding his stomach with a clawed hand. He had to cringe away to not get wacked with his scalene tail whipping around as he rolled around on the floor. 

“Holy Ra- holy-“ The demon stuttered through his laughter and Ryou blushed, embarrassed. “You really are a shoddy excuse for an angel- if you even are one!” Ryou pouted indignantly but didn’t disagree. He was right, but there was nothing he could do about it. It is what it is and what it is is that he is being kept like a pet by a demon and so far didn’t see the downside. What a life he’d lived.

Ryou focused on enjoying the sun a bit longer as the demon's laughter trailed off into chuckles and he stood, brushing himself off.

“I’m surprised you just laid there instead of trying to fly off. Believe me, you wouldn’t have gotten far, but it would have been a fun chase.”

“At least down here the only demon I have to worry about is you,” he looked at the demon nervously. “Right?” The demon wobbled his hand in a “meh” kind of way.

“Overall, the only demon _anyone_ should be worrying about is me. I’m quite high up on the food chain, so to speak.” Before Ryou could say anything further the demon swooped down and picked him up and Ryou growled irately.

“I can walk by myself you know,” he said with a pout. The demon shook his head.

“When you get a new puppy you don’t just release it into your house on its own-“

“I am not a puppy!”

“-you help it around, introduce it to every room, feed it, take it out for walks, train it and of course you’ve got to bath it.” Ryou blushed as the demon pinched a bit of his tattered dirty robes between his fingers. “Look at that, all dirty. It’s my fault after all so I should take responsibility and clean you up.”

“ _You are not bathing me_ ,” Ryou said resolutely; to the point and without room for argument.

The tub was already filled when they entered the chamber.

The demon didn’t bother putting him down to take off his clothes or anything of the sort. Ryou kicked and argued as soon as he saw the water but his words went ignored as the demon unceremoniously dropped him in the tub which was filled basically to the brim and sent a wave of steaming water splashing over the edge and onto the stone floor. He spluttered and coughed in the water before glaring through wet bangs up at the smirking demon.

“Lavender or vanilla?” The cheeky devil asked, holding up two bottles and Ryou stayed silent, glaring stubbornly between both bottles with icy fury. “Vanilla it is then.”

Ryou bitterly removed his sopping wet robes and gold trinkets under the cover of soap bubbles in the bath before the demon poured warm water from a bucket over his head and scrubbed the vanilla soap into his hair, turning his pearly hair even whiter with soap bubbles and suds. The demon was careful with his claws and although he knew they were dangerous Ryou couldn’t help but enjoy the occasional scrape against his skull.

A furious blush stuck permanently from the neck up as the demon started scrubbing a soapy cloth over his shoulders and arms. He even took a few minutes to scrub carefully at his wings which had Ryou shuddering and trembling at the attention, hopefully, but unlikely, unbeknownst to the demon. He couldn’t exactly feel the membrane as it was just skin and muscle, but as he scrubbed at the hooks and bone a surprising shot of warmth sent him bristling with an embarrassing feeling and Ryou snatched the cloth away when he tried to wash lower down his body. The demon walked away unbothered, saying he was going to pick out some clothes and scooping up Ryou's robes as he went so he couldn't put them on if he didn't like what was brought to him. 

Ryou finished washing quickly and looked around for a towel or something to dry off with and luckily spotted one hanging off the dressing screen, snatching it up quickly. He didn't care if it was used, he'd do anything to keep the demon from looking at him naked.

The demon came back to find him hiding behind the screen, wings covering his body while he scrubbed at his hair with the towel. Ryou didn’t notice him for a second until he removed the towel and covered himself better with his wings, a flustered blush returning to his face when he realized he was there. The demon handed him a pile of clothes with a smirk and the angel took them before shooing him out from behind the screen and proceeding to put on the clothes.

Ryou put on the clothes the best he knew how and found them not as revealing as he would have considered them to be. He found himself dressed in floor length pale blue robes that seemed to be a size too big for him as quite a bit of the cloth hung off his arms and trailed along the ground. The demon had also brought him more ringlets but now they were silver, fitting snugly around his midsection and lining his forearms. There were some that he realized were to fit around the neck but he tossed them aside. As if he would wear a collar. At least in this specific situation.

“How long are you going to take?” The demon groaned as he was fitting the last ringlet around his wrist. Ryou rolled his eyes.

“You’re immortal, I’m sure you can wait a second.” Ryou paused and peeked around the screen, finding the demon laying on the bed, chin resting on crossed forearms and reptilian tail slithering around absentmindedly behind him. “Have you been here the whole time?”

“I’ve got nothing better to do,” he purred and Ryou narrowed his eyes at him before stepping out from behind the screen.

“I’m _never_ letting you do that again, for the record,” Ryou said as he hung the towel he had used back on the screen and ran a hand through his tangled hair with a sigh. “Do you have a brush?” Ryou asked. The demon didn't answer, and he looked over curiously, blushing lightly when he found the demon eyeing him appreciatively before covering himself with a wing to break the staring spell.

“Hm?” The demon looked up at him, completely unabashed and Ryou gave him a bland look.

“Brush. For hair.” The demon pointed a claw at the dresser and there was a brush sitting on top. It was old fashioned, old fashioned meaning it looked like it was from the medieval ages as it was made of gold and covered with jewels on the back, but as he picked it up and ran it through his hair tentatively he found it was extremely efficient, gliding through the knots in his hair like a knife through soft butter and he sighed happily at the feeling.

Despite having been bathed by a _demon_ who had _captured_ him, or whatever this was, he found the experience ten times better than previous hygienic attempts in the past. As he grew to learn, ground angels usually came down to fight and then returned to the celestial realm to eat and bath to their heart's content with victory still running through their golden veins. Meanwhile he had spent the last year and a half bathing in lakes, creeks and a hotspring every once in a while, when he could manage. This was the best bath he’d had since he was alive nearly a year ago.

He felt his muscles relax fully for the first time in forever as he rid his hair of knots and watched in the full-length mirror next to the dresser as it’s ivory shine returned to its former glory, before he had fled the heavens.

He once again forgot the demon was even there as he finished brushing and ran his hands through his locks appreciatively. He paused at his own smile in the mirror, surprised that he barely recognized himself. He hadn’t seen his reflection much either in the last year. It was unnerving.

“How old are you?” The demon broke through his idle thoughts and the angel glanced at him before turning around and studying the backside of his wings, they were magnificent despite their mutated form.

“As an angel or…?”

“How long have you been you?” The demon specified. Ryou hesitated, not looking at the demon as he crossed the room to sit on one of the couches in front of the unlit fireplace.

“Nearly nineteen years,” Ryou said fleetingly, taking a seat on the velvet couch and running a hand along the cushion. “I died about a year ago, though.” He startled slightly as the fireplace suddenly roared to life and again when the demon silently appeared by his shoulder, leaning over the back of the elegant couch with his chin in his hand and staring at him with a blank expression.

“You died young huh?” Ryou moved slightly away from him as he nodded and the demon fell over the couch to stare at the fireplace upside down, tail and feet hanging off the back of the couch lazily.

“How old are you then?” Ryou asked himself. The demon laughed once, without feeling.

“Dunno. Lost count of the years. Time is too warped for me to even try to remember at this point.” Ryou hummed and leaned back into the couch, staring at the flames and enjoying the heat filling the room.

“What’s your name, by the way?”

The demon chuckled. “An angel asking for the disgraced, appalling sound of a demon’s name upon their holy ears? Like hell I’m telling you my name. You know that can be used against you right?”

The angel cringed slightly at the dismissal. He didn’t even know you could use an immortal’s name against them, let alone how to, so it wouldn’t really matter. And he didn’t mind asking a demon for their name, especially him what with their strange situation. And also...

“You weren’t always a demon…” Ryou murmured.

He gasped as the next second the demon suddenly sat up had grabbed his chin, roughly turning his head so they made tense eye contact. His eyes shone dangerous violet, _familiar_ violet, like from the dream and clashed with soft, anxious chocolate brown.

“About that,” the demon said darkly and Ryou felt his stomach twist. “I’d like to inquire as to how you came across that bit of information, as well as how you broke my seal on the door. Like I said, I’m quite high up on the food chain. Even the best angel they have up there in that shitty celestial world of rainbows and unicorns couldn’t get through a spell like that. So, enlighten me.” Ryou swallowed as the demon lessened the tight hold on his face, shaken by how quickly the demon had become hostile.

“I… just had a dream about it.” He glanced away briefly at the scar on the demon’s face and the demon's eyes narrowed at the action.

“Sure. Say you did have a dream about it,” Ryou noticed now more than ever how cynically deep and husky the demons voice was. He found the thought extremely inappropriate for the situation. “How’d you break my seal then?”

“I-I was just…” He had no idea how he broke it, he just… “I needed to get out, i-it was suffocating- I just grabbed the handle, even though it hurt-“ He shut up as the demon removed his hand and felt his face pale as he trailed his jaw with a claw. The demon didn't say anything, just looked blankly and Ryou shut his eyes pensively.

“I don’t know how… I just wanted to get out…”

The demon hummed and Ryou blinked his eyes open and let out a breath he hadn’t known he was holding as the demon backed off and sat back on the couch as though nothing had happened. Ryou would have to tread lightly. He may have been an angel once, but that time must have long passed. He was a demon, cynical and malicious; maybe cheekier and more merciful but _still_ a demon.

“You didn’t do it on purpose, that makes it worse.” Ryou curled up on the armrest to get as far away from the demon as possible while still on the couch. “In any case, I can’t have you walking around calling me things like Mr. Demon or Bastard. You can call me... Thief King.”

Ryou gave him a baleful, albeit nervous look. “I assume you came up with that yourself?” He said, in spite of the scare.

“Doesn’t mean it’s not true,” the demon smirked. “What should I call you then?” He wondered thoughtfully, talking more to himself than the angel as he got up from the couch and started for the exit passage. “I’ll call you…” He snapped his fingers with a victorious smile. “Bunny!” Ryou gave the demon an offended look.

“You call me that then I’m calling you fluffy; Fluffy the Demon. Thief king be damned.”

“I am damned,” the demon strode out of the room with a smug smile on his face, the angel silently glaring at his back as he left.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos are greatly appreciated (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧


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